Social and Emotional Learning – A District-Wide Focus

Students are whole beings, growing academically, physically, socially, and emotionally. The more educators focus on the whole child, the more children learn and the healthier they will be. For this reason, in 2015 and continuing through 2017, Belmont launched a district-wide social-emotional learning (SEL) effort to enhance all aspects of the Belmont Public Schools.

The FBE fully funded Belmont’s Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) program. By funding professional development, facilitation work, resource books, and presentations to educators and community members, the FBE enabled the school district to support social and emotional learning at all grade levels.

To date, the district has made significant steps in creating a long-term, sustainable infrastructure to support all students’ social and emotional learning. A SEL Steering Committee has been established in each school, and committee members have received training to design and lead professional learning experiences for all of Belmont Public School’s educators and staff. In addition, many parents participated in SEL workshops held throughout the year and have been able to incorporate SEL-related skills in helping their children outside of school.

“Children and teens who can understand and manage their emotions, set and achieve goals on their own, and make positive relationships with peers and adults are going to be successful in both school and life. Through our Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Initiative in Belmont, we are increasing opportunities for students to learn and practice these skills. We are so grateful to the Foundation for Belmont Education for their generous support of high quality SEL professional development for all Belmont educators. We are seeing positive results in every school and classroom.”

Testimonial

“The fact that this has been a district-wide initiative for two years has validated our beliefs about child development and empowered us to commit additional time and resources to our SEL work. It has positively impacted school culture and relationships among adults.”Belmont Public School Teacher

About Us

The Foundation for Belmont Education (FBE) works with residents and businesses in the Town of Belmont, Massachusetts to raise private funds that are used to enrich the education provided by the Belmont Public Schools.